Archive for the ‘history’ Category

The Ticonderoga Historical Society is set to unveil a traveling exhibit addressing Women’s Suffrage and present a free public program entitled “Women Will Vote” on Friday, May 31 at 7 pm at the Hancock House, 6 Moses Circle, Ticonderoga. The program will look at often-overlooked consequences of Women’s Suffrage, including internal disagreements that threatened to sideline the movement, the institution of Prohibition, and changes in women’s roles within the workforce. From the women’s suffrage movement’s 1848 Declaration of Sentiments, the right to vote took over 70 years to be adopted by Congress. Even after the passage of the amendment, ratification >>More

The Adirondack History Museum’s 2019 Season focuses on Wild Times in the Adirondacks. 2019 marks the centennial of the 18th Amendment’s ratification which not only began Prohibition but also ushered in a period of lawlessness across the country. An exhibit at the museum in Elizabethtown, Bootleggers and the Law in the Adirondacks, explores how the region was part of major bootlegging routes between Canada and New York City. The popular Adirondack Suffragists exhibit has been expanded to examine the Temperance Movement, which opposed the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The Adirondack History Museum’s Rosenberg Gallery will feature the work of two >>More

Based on his remarkable career as an inventor and the immeasurable but tremendous value of three creations of his to businesses and millions of individuals — a better golf ball, gas masks, and the industrial adhesive Vulcalock — it seems there should be a historical marker at William Geer’s birthplace and perhaps a museum wing up north, or at least an exhibit featuring his story. And that’s without even considering his greatest invention of all: the airplane-wing deicer. That’s right, a North Country man, born and raised, did that. Unlike many inventions that are completely replaced by better alternatives in >>More

During the summer of 1974 women gathered for weekend retreats in Paradox, NY at the site of The Highland Community School. Seven bonded, pooled their resources, and bought an abandoned rustic resort on 23 acres of land in Athol, just northwest of Lake George in Warren County. Lorraine Duvall will give a presentation at 6:30 pm on Wednesday May 29 at the Caldwell Lake George Library about her search for the women who were part of this experiment 45 years ago when they started the women’s commune A Woman’s Place. Duvall says “They » Continue Reading. View original post.

Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), the historic preservation organization for the Adirondack Park region, has opened nominations for its 2019 Preservation Awards. For over 23 years, this annual awards program has recognized the sensitive restoration, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse of historic structures throughout the region, and highlighted individuals who have promoted historic preservation revitalization efforts in their communities. The awards honor the preservation work of organizations, municipalities, and individuals who make the Adirondack region a better place to live, work, and visit. Preservation projects of all sizes and scopes are eligible for consideration. The deadline for nominations is June 1, 2019. >>More

Memorial Day weekend is approaching, and along with the “unofficial start of summer,” the Adirondacks will experience its annual influx of vacationers. But in years past, visitors arrived in May for another purpose: a pilgrimage to the John Brown farm in North Elba, New York. At the farm, a wreath would be laid upon the abolitionist’s grave, and the song “John Brown’s Body” was sung. Though John Brown’s efforts in opposing slavery had been honored in various ways since his execution in 1859, these annual pilgrimages by black citizens began only in the 1920s, and were founded by Jesse Max >>More

In 1861 Benjamin Hall of Elizabethtown in Essex County was one among many young men who enlisted to fight against the South in the Union Army. His wartime experiences took him to some of the major battlefields of the American Civil War, and finally to the notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp at Andersonville, Georgia. The Ticonderoga Historical Society is set to present a free public program entitled “Through the Gates of Hell: The Civil War Odyssey of Benjamin Hall,” on Friday, May 17 at 7 pm at the Hancock House, 6 Moses Circle, Ticonderoga. » Continue Reading. View original >>More

In the northeast corner of New York, just a few miles from where I grew up, is the village of Rouses Point. Lying directly south of Montreal, it has long provided access for rail shipments to U.S. markets. Where the main highway heading west exits the village is an underpass beneath the rails, so road traffic is not impeded by trains, but it’s a different story within the village, where the tracks cross three streets. I loved it as a young boy when my dad got stuck at one of those crossings, which forced us to sit and watch as >>More

Recently on Adirondack Almanack, two inventions of Ogdensburg native William Chauncey Geer (who lived in Potsdam for ten years of his youth) were addressed, one of them a writing implement to replace pens, pencils, and crayons (an idea that was ultimately relegated to oblivion). The other was a highly successful project resulting in a standard golf ball used by professionals for more than two decades. Three of Geer’s other works deeply impacted America and the world. The subject here is the third most prominent among them — the gas mask. Its importance rose unexpectedly to critical levels during the First >>More

Fifty springs ago, the Upper Hudson River was conserved as a wild, free flowing river. The Schenectady Gazette’s writer Pete Jacobs reported the news in the April 17, 1969 edition of that newspaper: “Without opposition, the Assembly gave swift approval to legislation prohibiting the construction of the Gooley Dam on the Upper Hudson River, branded by conservationists as a threat to the wild river country.” In addition to Gooley, the bill blocks construction of any reservoirs on the river from Luzerne to its source in the Adirondack Park. The estimated $57 million dam was proposed as a source of water >>More